1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus which includes photoconductors and exposure units, each exposure unit in use being disposed in proximity to a corresponding photoconductor.
2. Description of Related Art
Image forming apparatuses of a type are hitherto known in the art in which a plurality of photoconductors and a plurality of exposure units (e.g., LED heads) are provided such that each exposure unit is disposed in proximity to a corresponding photoconductor so as to expose the photoconductor to light. In this type of the image forming apparatuses, it is desirable to keep the associated photoconductor and exposure unit in relatively fixed positions in order that exposure of the photoconductor to light may be precisely regulated. For example, JP 2003-43776 A (the corresponding U.S. patent issued under U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,011 B2) discloses an image forming apparatus in which locating pins provided at both ends of a long-length substrate of each exposure unit are inserted into locating holes in the associated mounting struts provided on the inside surfaces of both side plates of a frame which supports the photoconductors, and fastening screws are used to fix each substrate (exposure unit) and the associated mounting strut together, so that each exposure unit is fixedly located relative to the associated photoconductor.
In such a construction for fixedly locating each of exposure units relative to the associated photoconductor as described above, each of the exposure units may be fixed precisely in an appropriate position relative to the associated photoconductor, but any photoconductor in need of replacement should be removed and replaced together with the associated exposure unit which could possibly not yet need replacing, and thus the apparatus would be disadvantaged in view of the environmental load and economic efficiency.
It would thus be desirable to provide an image forming apparatus in which each of exposure units is precisely located and fixed in position relative to an associated photoconductor while the disadvantages in view of the environmental load, economical efficiency, and the like can be overcome. The present invention has been made in an attempt to eliminate the above disadvantages. Illustrative, non-limiting embodiments of the present invention overcome the above disadvantages and other disadvantages not described above. Also, the present invention is not required to overcome the disadvantages described above, and an illustrative, non-limiting embodiment of the present invention may not overcome any of the problems described above.